IS Academy Year Two
by warriorseadra
Summary: A new student, a new organization, and a new perspective. What will this year hold for the IS Academy and its students? There will be spoilers form the light novel. REWRITE COMPLETE
1. The New Student

The New Student

I.S. Academy Year Two

By Warrior Seadra

Looking back, I don't really like how this story was written. So I'm fixing it up. Enjoy :)

Hey everyone, some of you may have read "The American Transfer Student" before reading this. I just want you to know that that chapter takes place many many chapters after this one. When I wrote that, it was on a whim to see if I could and now I want to get the whole story out. This will answer many of the questions and provide much of the missing background information needed to understand "The American Transfer Student." So if you're curious to know, or haven't read it and wish to know what I'm talking about, then please, enjoy the story. Thank you.

* * *

><p><span>The New Student<span>

"Class, I'm happy to announce the arrival of a transfer student." Yamada-Sensei announces. "Please welcome Junius-san. Now, Junius-san, would you introduce yourself to us?"

"Hello everyone!" The new female joyfully begins, "My full name is Adriana Junius, but please just call me Adriana. I'm looking forward to working with all of you this year."

'Ichika Orimura.' Adriana notes the only male in the academy. 'Other than the absent Chifuyu Orimura and Maya Yamada, only Laura, Houki, and Lingyin present themselves as the obstacles in this class.'

'Laura Bodewig, silver hair with an eye patch over the left eye. She is Germany's representative candidate and pilot of the Schwarzer Regen.' Adriana recalls information regarding the three as she takes note of them. 'Houki Shinonono, younger sister of Tabane Shinonono, currently under governmental protection, is not a representative candidate, but pilots the Akatsubaki. Lingyin Huang, goes by the name Rin, has fang like teeth, is the Chinese representative candidate and pilot of the Shenglong.'

"_We've arranged for you to share the target's classroom." _A memory stirs within Adriana's mind."_Use the opportunity to get close to him, his fellow I.S. holders, and his classmates. After observing for the past year, we have gathered enough information to begin our operation. You will receive further orders Sunday at 2000 hours."_

"Now Adriana-san, why don't you take the empty seat there by the window?"

"Yes, Sensei," Adriana happily replies.

Upon Orimura-sensei's arrival. She gives a quick introduction of herself and immediately begins teaching her first lesson of the day.

'Former Japanese Representative and former champion of the Mondo Grosso. Is the targets older sister and is familiar with Tabane Shinonono. Little known about the stratos she pilots. Currently is a teacher at the I.S. Academy and is the biggest danger to the mission.'

As the morning lessons end lunch arrives.

Casually, Adriana rises from her seat and approaches Ichika. She slips past the various girls and slings her arms around Ichika's. The small act infuriates Laura, Houki, and Rin.

With a large smile, Adriana ignores the glares and the gasps of her fellow students, and says, "You're Orimura Ichika-san, no? Since I'm new here, do you mind showing me around the school?"

"Ye-yeah, no problem." Ichika brings himself to reply.

"Really? That's great!" Adriana grins, "Then, can you start by showing me the way to the cafeteria?"

"Ichika," Rin cuts in, "You don't need to worry, I'll take care of showing Adriana around the school."

"That's right," Houki continued, "It would be better if we show her around."

"We-well..." Ichika struggles for words. The steadily rising anger of his three friends and a girl around his arm prove too much for the young man.

"Oh no, I think Ichika's the best qualified for this task. He seems very trust worthy and dependable." Adrian replies with joyfully replies.

'My objective now is to Ichika. The rest of you will be later.' Adriana tells herself.

Adriana pulls Ichika's arm saying with a giggle, "So come on, let's go to lunch already."

…..

"Adriana, here we have Cecilia, Charlotte, and Ran." Ichika introduces Adriana, "Everyone, Adriana just transferred today."

"Please, treat me well." Adriana bows greeting the girls.

""Please, treat me well"" The two girls reciprocate Adriana's actions.

'Cecilia Alcott, no particular features or history, English representative candidate, pilot of the Blue Tears. Charlotte Dunois, daughter of current owner of the Dunois Corporation, French representative candidate, pilot of Raphael Revive Custom II, a customized stratos.' Adrian mentally notes the new girls. 'Ran Gotanda, no particular features of history, does not possess a stratos, posses a small threat.'

"Tell us Adriana, where are you from?" Ichika asks.

"I'm from the South American country of Argentina. While we don't have a single stratos, my superiors believe my attendance here would aid in the development of one."

"Then, what are your goals for attending this school? It cannot be to increase your proficiency in piloting an I.S." Laura asks.

"That's right, Laura-san." Adriana replies giggling, "That is your name correct?"

Laura nods bringing an even larger smile to Adriana's face as she continues, "While become an excellent pilot isn't my goal, I need to increase my understanding of a stratos to test possible stratos that my country may develop in the future. Further, I need to learn how stratos are developed, maintained, and various other functions to aid in development. My main focus is stratos maintenance over actual piloting."

Adriana nonchalantly sighs saying, "It's a shame though, I really do wish to pilot a statos with the skill all of you will be."

…..

The group quickly finishes eating and return to their classrooms.

Along the way, Adriana starts a conversation with great excitement. "Say, Houki-san, are you really a strong kenshi? That's so awesome, being able to use swords so well that it becomes the defining weapon of your stratos. I can only imagine how much you had to train. In the statos weaponry I design, I'd like to put a sword in too. Would you mind giving me some advice on how the sword should be made and maybe even test them out for me?"

"Oh please," Rin interjects. "I'm a much better fighter then her."

"With your barbaric weaponry?" Cecilia cuts in. "Adriana, if you need any help making a rifle, just ask me. I, Cecilia Alcott, am quite familiar with the working of one."

"Really!" Adriana awes, "That's so cool."

…..

"This bath is huge!" Adriana gaps entering the bathing area.

"This is your first time in a public bath, right Adriana?" Charlotte asks the awestruck girl.

"Yeah, and it's amazing!"

"Stop." Laura commands. "There are procedures that need to be followed before entering the water."

"Really?" Adriana tilts he head rejoining the two. "What?"

"You have to wash yourself first." Laura replies

Confusion wells on Adriana's face. "I have clean myself so I can take a bath?"

Charlotte giggles, "It isn't that kind of bath. These osen, hot springs, are so your body can soak up minerals and relax, not so you can actually clean yourself."

"Ohhhhh." Adriana nods in understanding.

"Come on," Charlotte takes Adriana's hand. "I'll wash you back."

…..

"Come on, it's this way, this way!" Rin calls to Adriana leading her across the campus.

"Are you really sure?" Adriana calls back.

"Yeah, it'll be fine."

"Don't worry," Houki reassures Adriana. "There is no way she'd ever miss dinner, so we'll be fine."

"Oh, good." Adriana sighs in relief.

"Come on! What are ya waiting for?" Rin calls back to the two.

"Sorry!" Adriana responds with a laugh rushing to close the gap.

"Well, we're here." Rin proudly declares. "This is the short cut from our dorms to the training hall."

"I'm grateful you showed me this Rin-san," Adriana scratches her cheek. "but I don't think I'll be spending that much time here outside of class."

Confusion fills Rin's face which is quickly has realization follow.

"Oh, that's right!" Rin declares, "You don't have an I.S., sorry."

"That's ok, I'm glad you cared to show me." Adriana responds with a smile.

"Hehe, I feel silly now." Rin giggles.

"E-hem," Houki interrupts, "If we don't hurry, we'll be late to lunch."

"No need to worry!" Rin declares. "I know a short cut. This way!"

Whenever Ichika has his student council duties, Adriana slowly improves her relationship with his friends. By the end of the week, the group sees Adriana as a friend more so than a love rival.

"Ichika!" Adriana calls no longer adding any honorifics to his name.

"Oh, hey Adriana." Ichika replies.

"Did you hear, they're showing a new movie about cowboys and aliens in town tonight."

"Wait." Ichika is taken aback. "How does something like that even work?"

"I have no idea, but it sounds so cool. We have to watch it."

"Yeah, I'm curious now."

"Hey," Adriana says turning to the other girls, "You're coming too, right? It'll be much more fun with everyone."

"Of course." "Yes." "Yeah." "Wouldn't miss it." "Sounds exciting." "What time?" the girls respond in turn.

"Great, let's meet here in at six." Adriana creates a meeting while bouncing with joy and excitement.

'She's not even trying...' is the thought that runs threw each girls mind. 'Not a rival.'

…..

Sunday afternoon and the group sits on a roof top for a lunch picnic.

"Was that your first time piloting an I.S.?" Cecilia asks Adriana.

"Yeah, I was so nervous. I hope the next time goes better."

"You did really well for your first time." Charlotte responds, "Those turns were great, you just need to work on your breaking."

"That's right," Rin continues, "Just visualize yourself slowing down and stopping."

"The way you guys say it, it sounds really easy." Adriana responds down-heartedly. "This must be the difference between candidate representatives and common students like me..."

"Nonsense, you just need more practice." Laura states.

"Besides, at least you didn't make a crater like this guy." Houki reminds states.

"Did you have to bring that up?" Ichika asks in annoyance.

"What crater?" asks Ran curiously.

"Actually, I'm curious too." Adriana comments.

"This occurred shorty after Ichika received his I.S. Orimura-sensei asked the two of us to demonstrate breaking to the class by stopping a few centimeters above the ground." Cecilia explains while emphasizing the words, "the two of us." "Ichika's turn comes up and he doesn't break leaving a crater in the ground."

Everyone, but Ichika, laugh as Cecilia finishes her story.

"Well then," Adriana struggles to say gasping for air, "there's hope for me yet."

"By the way Ichika, what are you eating?" Ran asks, "It looks really good."

"Really?" Ichika asks. "It's just something I found in the Latin food section. Here, try it. Ah."

"Ahhn." Ran eagerly opens her mouth accepting the food.

The sight that follows is one Adriana will never forget. A flock of girls trying to get fed by one person.

"I-Ichika, my turn next."

"No fair, I want to try it too."

"As my bride, I demand you let me test your food."

'He's like a mother hen feeding her hungry little chick-lets...' Adriana concludes watching the scene in shock.

"-an... Adrian, hello Adriana?" Adrian hears Ichika calling her name.

"Ye-yes?" She responds in surprise.

"Adriana, don't you want some too?" Ichika asks, "Here, ah-"

"No thanks," Adriana replies putting her hands up. "I'm not that hungry."

'I lost my appetite.'

"Oh, ok..." Ichika replies. Someone turning him down is quite rare. "Well, you did serve yourself quite a bit."

"Ichika no baka." Rin angrily cries while whacking him on the head.

As the other girls start making a commotion over Ichika's comment, Adriana interjects saying, "You think so, I only serve myself as much as I need until my next meal. I don't really eat snack in between."

Ichika jumps at the chance to escape the mysterious wrath of the other girls, "Really?"

"Yeah, I'm not too found of sweets."

"Really, that very healthy."

With a smile, Adriana agrees to and Ichika responds with a smile of his own.

The other girls angrily glared at Adriana. 'Lucky... how could I have missed it...'

The day concludes happily and everyone returns to their rooms for the night.

At eight o'clock, Adriana hears her ring give a sound. Knowing her room mate would not return for at least an hour, Adriana raises her left hand to her face and speaks to the ring on her ring finger.

"This is Adriana, reporting."

"Give us the report of your current week."

"I have made contact with the target and have begun shadowing his movements and patterns as well as those of his group. As mentioned in previous report there are slight deviations from the expected group. I have adjusted to the current dynamics and am now beginning to gather information on the others. Currently, there is no change to the mission's rate of success. As mentioned before, I am still able to successfully pilot the stratos provided here. I believe all future piloting will occur without problems."

"Excellent, continue observing. Contact shall be made again Sunday at 2000 hours."

"Understood." Adriana cuts the communication

The girl showers and prepares for her classes the next day.

* * *

><p>Done the first chapter of my story is in. The rest is still in my head waiting to be written down. I hope you enjoyed this.<p>

The editing has been finished. Now to do the other chapters. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think in your reviews.

Ja ne


	2. Week Two

Week Two

I.S. Academy Year Two

By Warrior Seadra

Here is the second chapter. Character development is pretty hard, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. Adriana's happy personality is very annoying to write about and she's my OC... Anyway, I tried getting some character interaction in this chapter and will attempt to do more in future chapters as well. I hope you all enjoy.

Here is the editing and up dates for this chapter

* * *

><p><span>Week Two<span>

"Ichika, we should go to the new restaurant today after school." Adriana hears Rin say outside the classroom.

Adriana enters her classroom and finds a commotion around Ichika's desk. There are even students from other classes present.

"You guys sure are energetic this morning." Adriana greets everyone as she approaches the desk.

"Oh, morning Adriana." Ichika gives a causal reply from his seat.

The other girls merely give Adriana a nod and return to their arguing.

"No, take me instead."

"What? No, I'm more dignified than all of you. Only I, C-"

"Common, Ichika, take me."

"Ichika!"

"Ichika!"

Sighing, Adriana approaches Ichika and rest her arm upon his shoulder.

"Sorry everyone," The girl apologizes, "but Ichika already promised to help me with my training after school today."

"What!" "Really?" "Awww" the girls respond in shock.

"Why didn't you say anything before Ichika?"

"Yeah!" the various girls demanded.

Ichika notices his chance and replies, "That's right, sorry everyone, it slipped my mind. Thanks for reminding me Adriana."

"Any time." Adriana smiles.

"Wait, Adriana, you don't have an I.S. to practice with, do you?" Charlotte asks.

"I reserved one for today. I'm exited that I'm able to use an exoskeleton outside of class." The girl responds grinning.

"Exoskeleton.." is muttered by various students in the class.

"Ichika, how could you!" Cecilia cries.

"As my bride, you should not be making promises to other women." Laura reprimands.

"Wouldn't it be better if one of us candidates helped you instead?" Rin asks.

"Ichika isn't that great of a pilot." the girls unanimously agree.

With a smile, Adriana responds saying, "But Ichika is one of the few people to have reached second shift. I believe he would be most helpful to have as my trainer today. Not to mention, he already promised to help. Men should not break their promises."

"That's right! I wouldn't be a man if I didn't keep my promises." Ichika continues accepting responsibility for the false promise.

With a "hump," the other girls return to their seats and classes.

"Well Ichika, I look forward to later today." Adriana says giggling before returning to her seat.

Lunch arrives and Adriana eats with the other girls. Sudden student council work forces Ichika to be else where.

"You know Adriana, you sure are bold." Ran states.

"How so?" Adriana sweetly replies.

"She's right, you've just met us and your already using our first names." Rin agress.

"Oh, that." Adriana gasps in realization. "Sorry, it's just, I'm not use to using family names. I'm more comfortable using given names. If it bothers you, I will make an effort to address you properly."

"No need." Charlotte replies, "This makes being around you easier as well."

"So you weren't try to be friendly to Ichika?" Cecilia asks.

"Of course I'm being friendly with him. I don't want to be rude. I know I wouldn't like being reffered to as an object instead of as a person." Adriana retorts.

Everyone responds with dumb found stares.

"If I wasn't being friendly, I would have referred to Ichika and everyone else for that matter as objects, not people. So by being friendly I use your names."

'This girl may just be an idiot...' is a thought everyone else shares at that table.

"Then your desire for wanting to train with my bride..." Laura trails off.

?I've already told you, he has achieved the second shift of his stratos. Observing him in training would be of great value to me and my country. Also, it might help me figure out how to do it if I ever get a stratos." Adriana states giving a brilliant smile.

"That does make sense." some of the girls muttered feeling honesty from Adriana's words.

"Are you saying we would only get in the way?" Ran demands to know.

"Oh no, I'm sorry if I've implied that." Adriana quickly apologizes. "Observing any stratos with skilled pilots is helpful to me. Houki, you, however, would be very beneficial to observe."

"R-Really?" Houki asks in surprise.

"Yes, you are also a rarity for you possess the first and only fourth generation stratos in the world. Gathering data of it's use would be super beneficial. But don't worry, I won't do anything shady like taking that kind of information?"

"It is true..." Charlotte says in a low voice. "Ichika-san is the only male capable of piloting an I.S. and has achieved his second shift. Houki-san is also the only person to posses a fourth generation I.S. Many countries and corporations would love to take hold of these two pilots."

The meal continues with small conversations occurring here and there. Lunch break ends and the girls return to their respective classrooms. The lessons end and the students begin dispersing for the day.

Adriana approaches Ichika saying, "Let's meet in arena three. I have to go get the stratos."

The girl walks off whistling a happy tune.

…..

Adriana walks onto the field of arena three expecting Ichika to be there waiting for her. Instead, she sees the other girls in their respective I.S.s flying around. They noticed Adriana the moment she walks onto the field and lend beside her.

Cecilia begins claiming, "As England's representative candidate, I must must be ever vigilant in my training."

"I just came here to train, it's only coincidence that we're at the same training arena.'" Rin continues.

"I'm still learning how to use my Akatsubaki, so I just came here to train." Houki says.

"Our professors didn't give much homework so I thought this would be a good way to pass the time." replies Charlotte. Laura nods her head in agreement.

Adriana, disbelieving their words, has a smile spread across her face. While their presence did surprise her, but she wasn't mad in the slightest.

"You guys are great." Adrian responds ridiculously happy, "After all you said about Ichika's poor piloting skills, you grew worried that Ichika would be a bad teacher. So the five of you came specifically to help me train."

Tears of joy well up within Adriana's eyes.

The girls feel guilt on having deceived Adriana. They realize that Adriana truly believes that they had come just to help her.

'Is she really that dangerous?' many of the girls ask themselves.

"So, what do you have in mind for today?" Adriana asks Ichika placing her hand upon his shoulder.

Quickly the other girls cut in.

"Don't ask this idiot, he'll have you do something useless." Rin shouts.

"Your first task should be overcoming your weaknesses." Laura coolly states.

"Right, begin by flying laps. Stop on our signals." Ichika says.

"Thank you all so much." Adriana replies with a bow.

"Get going already!" the shout.

With Adriana taking off, the girls were reaffirm their opinion that Adriana is a love rival. However, 'She's as dense as a rock.'

…..

'Stopping and going... not what I had in mind. An actual match would yield much more information.'

"Stop!"

"How am I doing?" Adriana shouts with a laugh.

"Pretty well, actually." Charlotte replies, "We can probably take this up a level."

"Awesome! How so?"

"Target practice." Laura states

"Target practice?" Adriana asks tilting her head.

"Yes, try dodging our attacks." Laura replies.

Cecilia takes the initiative and fires her rifle. With a yelp, Adriana quickly veers to the side. Charlotte continues firing one of her own beam rifles as well.

Adriana attempts her best weaving between the attacks. Every fifth or sixth shot hits leading them to start over. After dodging ten shots, Cecilia begins using her Bits.

'Even if it's training, her attack pattern should be similar.' Adriana comments to herself upon seeing the bits.

They continued pacticing until Adriana's shield energy could no longer provide protection. The entire time, everyone gave suggestions on how the girl could do better.

"Don't just watch one thing, look at everything."

"Don't forget, the I.S. Has nearly 360 degrees of vision."

Landing, Adriana receives congratulations from her friends.

"Everyone, thank you so much."

"How about we go get dinner?" Ichika suggests.

I "Yeah, let's do it!" Adriana joyfully leaps

…..

"Ichika no echi!" Charlotte screams slapping the boy.

Most of other girls also proceed to punish the teen. Adriana merely bites into her cheeseburger, not fazed by the scene.

"Adriana, aren't you going to say anything?" Cecilia asks noticing the girl's lack of response..

"Hmmm" Adriana muses.

'For what? You're the ones who brought up the topic and then trapped him. If I must...'

"Bad Ichika." Adriana say nonchalantly while placing a french fry in her mouth.

"..."

"What? You said say something, so I did."

"..."

The students drop the subject and begin discussing the courses they are looking forward to that year. Upon finishing dinner, the the students separate and return to their rooms for the night.

…..

"Ok everyone." Adriana calls stepping out of the arena three's observation room. "Here are the statistics from you matches."

As Ichika and the girls gather, Adriana happily begins reading the results.

"Currently, Laura is the strongest amongst all of you."

"Of course." Laura says satisfied.

"Houki follows in second."

Houki silently accepts her position like a warrior.

"Next is Cecilia."

"..."

"Charlotte is in fourth."

"Better than last."

"Followed by Ichika."

"Guess I still need a lot of work."

"Clearly." "Duh." "Obviously." "Men need to be strong, Ichika." "Don't worry, I'll train you."

"Thanks everyone."

"Leaving Rin in last."

"What, I even lost to this idiot!"

The week continues with laughing, training, and observation. With Saturday arrives the last day of class for the week.

As usual, Adriana awake early in the morning and goes out for her morning running around the academy. After finishing seven miles, she swings bokuto for sword practice. Once her training ends, she quietly returns to her room. Rarely does she encounter another person on the way, which is how she prefers it. She'd rather not have people know her training habits.

Once Adrian returns to her room, she takes a quick shower, usually finishing around the time her room mate wakes up, and then leaves for breakfast. Sometimes, like today, Adriana meets her friends in the cafeteria, but more often she meets them in class.

"Just wait, after today you'll all see that I should be number one." Rin says excitedly.

"We're lucky to be having a joint excessive with your class today," Ichika comments to Charlotte and Cecilia. "If not, we wouldn't be able to measure our progress."

"I'm sure all of you will be fantastic." Adriana replies.

"The instructor will surely guide us well today."

"It isn't fair, I'm not in the same year as you guys so I can't compete." Ran pouts.

"Don't worry Ran, you're sure to catch up to our level soon." Ichika comforts with.

"You really think so?" Ran asks, her eyes brightening.

"Of course, your quite talented."

The rest of the girls glare daggers and explosions at Ran for receiving favorable treatment from Ichika. Adriana, however, only watches with amusement.

"We should get going, or we're going to be late." Houki suddenly interjects.

Everyone quickly rises and leaves. No one wishes to face Orimura-sensei's wrath.

…..

"Today's lesson was intense." Rin complains while getting changed in the locker room. "But, I reclaimed my spot like I said I would. Hehe~."

"I disappointed the Instructor." Laura mopes.

"Cheer up Laura." Charlotte says trying to reassure her room mate. "You just made one little mistake. It isn't the end of the world."

Laura, however, has cut herself off from her surroundings and continues to mope.

"Adriana," Houki calls, "you saw us today. How diowe compare to Monday?"

Silence responds Houki's question.

"Adriana?"

"I think she left." Replies Cecilia.

"She did look like she was in a hurry to change."

Horror spreads upon everyone's faces. They quickly finish changing and rush out the door.

"That traitor."

"How could she."

"Taking advantage of our guard being down."

Everyone mumbles under their breath as they quickly exit the locker room. Their mission, to find Ichika before Adriana.

"Hey guys, whats wrong?" Adriana's voice asks.

The five girls jump in surprise. They turn around and Adriana drinking a bottle of orange juice.

"A-Adriana, where did you go?"

"You suddenly vanished on us."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that." Adriana apologetically waves her hand. "I was just thirsty from practice so I hurried to the vending machine before anyone else could get there."

"Why didn't you say anything? We would've come with you."

Adriana remains silent for a moment before happily exclaiming, "Really?"

Genuine surprise is clearly seen upon the girl's face.

Laura is equally confused, "She was thirsty and left to acquire her beverage. I fail to see the need for assistance."

"Oh Laura." Charlotte sighs placing a hand on Laura's shoulder.

'She's as bad as Laura...' Is the common thought running threw each of their minds as they all go to find Ichika.

"There he is." Cecilia calls. "And he's speaking to Ran!"

"It looks like she's inviting him to dinner." Rin cries in horror.

Immediately, five of the girls impose themselves and Ichika invited them as well. Adriana merely tags along.

Sunday night and Adriana again finds herself alone in her room. Upon hearing the signal, she brings her ring to her mouth and speaks into the communicator.

'She won't be back for a while.'

"Reporting."

"What progress have you made."

"After having successfully infiltrated the group, I have begun observing their mock battles with each other and have recorded their abilities."

"Have made direct contact with all of the targets protectors?"

"Negative, protectors TS and KS have only been contacted indirectly. However, their combat ability has been observed."

"Contact will be made again, as usual."

"Confirmed."

* * *

><p>There it is. I can't wait to get the plot moving, but that is still a bit off. A lot still needs to be prepared before I can even think about writing that.<p>

-editing is finished. I hope all of you are liking it. I know I'm not. So let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Ja ne


	3. Preparation

Preparation

I.S. Academy Year Two

By Warrior Seadra

Now on for the third chapter, I tried getting more character dialogue and interaction in than I did in the previous chapter, but I'm not too sure how that turned out. Let me know if it could use improvement. Also, I tried to unveil some more history about my OC, Adriana, I'm not sure how it turned out, but I'm happy with it. Enjoy and please let me know what you think when you're done.

Here comes the rewrite for this chapter, enjoy.

* * *

><p><span>Preparation<span>

The home rooms buzz with excitement Monday morning. The Class League Match is coming up and everyone wants their class to win. Class 2-2 is no exception. All the personal I.S. users crowd Ichika and develop a training schedule for him. Ichika was, again, forced into being his class' representative during the first week of class. It occurred with unanimous support despite his unwillingness, complaints, and logic.

_"Me, again! I refuse!"_

_ "The nominated person cannot refuse, only out voted." Orimura-sensei flatly objects his rejection._

_ "Come on Ichika, who else could do a better job than you? Besides, you have your own personal I.S." one girl says._

_ "So do Houki, Laura, and Rin!"_

_ "Not to mention you've reached the second shift." another girl continues._

_ "And I still lose to Houki, Laura, and Rin."_

_ "So it's decided then, Ichika will represent us this year?" A third girl asks._

_ All the girls unanimously agree._

_ "Then," another girl begins, what about training?"_

_ "It'll have to be everyday." says yet another girl._

_ "It's unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do about it." says a girl form before._

_ "Yeah..." a majority of the class sighs while glancing at their class' personal I.S. users._

_ "But no matter what, we'll support you in any way we can!" a new girl declares._

_ "Yeah!" The rest of the class agrees._

_ "Ichika," Houki calls. "we'll begin training immediately after classes for the rest of the week."_

_ "Report to arena four and be ready." Laura declares._

_ "Afterwards, we can have dinner." Rin smirks._

_ "Wait," Ichika complains, "that last one has nothing do training!"_

_ "I'll do what I can too." Adriana perks up._

…..

'This feels... divided.' Adriana comments to herself entering the cafeteria.

Adrian makes her way to the usual table where her friends are seated.

"Charlotte and Cecilia aren't here either." She mutters to herself sitting down.

Charlotte and Cecilia approach Ichika from another table and declared war.

"Ichika," Charlotte began, "I won't lose to you."

'They're taking this too seriously.' Adriana comments to herself. 'Everyone is.'

"Exactly, let's put aside our friendship and battle to fullest." Ichika replies brimming with confidence.

"By the way, the representative of 2-3 seems to be Kanzashi Sarashiki." Cecilia informs her class' rival.

Adriana looks over to class 2-3 table and sees Kanzashi sitting next to a sleepy looking girl with an animal eared head band. 'She must be, Nohohon...'

"As for class 2-1, they have a representative candidate from Canada." Charlotte says interrupting Adriana from her thoughts.

"She also transfer in this year, huh?" Rin asks.

"Yes, we don't have much information on her." Laura replies.

"Well then Ichika, you better prepare yourself. We of class 2-4 will defeat you and everyone else!" The duo proclaim walking away.

"Do you really think I would allow myself to have a bride who would loose to you?" Laura responds in Ichika's place.

"You guys don't stand a chance." Rin declares.

Houki rises like a warrior accepting a challenge.

Adriana watches the scene unfold before her and pats Ichika's back saying, "But no pressure."

Upon realizing the situation, the other girls quickly scrambl to say something as well.

"Don't worry Ichika, our training will definitely be top notch."

"Even an idiot like you will be amazed at your improvement."

"I remember all the lessons I've had with the instructor and will gladly share them with you."

Charlotte and Cecilia, who are walking away, freeze with expressions of pain. They also wish to comfort Ichika, but can not for they are currently rivals. Swallowing their desires, the duo continue walking back to their class.

The representative of class 2-1 also goes around and challenges each class as well not long after.

…..

Ichika, Houki, Laura, Rin, and Adriana enter arena four. While the ISs were deployed, Adriana enters the control tower. Quickly, she opens a connection with them saying, "Systems set and ready, please respond in confirmation."

"I hear you." Ichika says.

"Confirmed." Laura replies.

"Ready." Houki responds.

"Let's start." Rin says energetically.

"Excellent, begin combat exercise at once."

Four I.S.s take off into the air. Rin and Houki begin by firing their ranged weapons at Ichika who weaves between the many attacks. Slowly, he closes the distance between Houki and himself, but a sudden force jerks him away.

Laura had gotten below Ichika while he was distracted and used black cables to grab onto his ankles. Unable to break free, Ichika flies to the ground. As he slowly struggles to his feet, Houki charges slashing with a katana. Instantly, Ichika parries with his blade and swings towards Houki's head.

A sudden slash from behind knocks Ichika forward. Rin took the opportunity to get behind Ichika and use her blades, Souten Gagetsu. Houki then slashes Ichika with her two swords sending him flying back into a wall. The two girls lift off from the ground and rejoin Laura in the air.

"Ichika," Adriana sighs through a private channel, "you're to focused in what's in front of you. When you fight multiple enemies, you have to be aware of each of them. The ones you aren't battling against will attempt to get into a position inconvenient for you."

"Like Cecilia's Bits." he respondes.

"It's a little more complicated than that. These opponents each have their own free will and judgment. As long as you keep track on where everyone is and their capabilities, you'll be able to more or less guess what they intend to do."

Adriana ends the private conversation and opens a public communication with everyone.

That was great everyone, please start the second match now."

'Ichika, I need more out of you.'

Four I.S.s again take off with Houki and Rin firing their long distance attacks at Ichika. Ichika charges straight threw attempting a new method on weaving past the barrage of attacks. Rin's invisible cannons, however, prove very effective as they kept hitting Ichika.

In the control tower, Adriana closely monitors Rin's attack using delicate sensors to observe how the air compresses and fires.

'There has to be a way to determine their trajectory.' she tells herself.

After getting hit again by Rin's attack again, Ichika notices that he has lost Laura in the confusion. Remembering Adriana's advice, Ichika turns around firing Setsura's particle cannon.

Taken by surprise, Laura does not have enough time to activate her shield and recieves the attack full on. Ichika uses ignition boost to charge Laura and slashes her stomach. From behind Laura, Ichika sees that Rin and Houki are attempting to pincer him above and below. Ichika uses Setsura's claw to hold Laura in place and prevent her from turning around. Timing the pincer attack, Ichika dodges leaving Laura in his place.

Houki charges Ichika wielding her two katana while Rin provides cover fire with her Impact Cannons. Ichika meets Houki head on and uses her as a shield from Rin. Finding an opening, he kicks Houki to the side and charges Rin who begins to fire her cannons again with high success despite Ichika's attempts to dodge.

Adriana in the control room continues watching Rin fire her cannon.

'How does she do it?' She thinks frantically. 'First she compresses the air above her shoulders and then she fires them in which ever direction she pleases. With this room's equipment, I was able to determined the size of the shell, speed it travels in, and the range its most effective. But how does she aim it? All weapons need to be aimed, regardless of whether they are for close quarter combat or distant combat. That's why snipers have... scopes.'

"Ichika, cut with your sword vertically, now!" Adriana commands.

Instinctively, the teen obeys the command and a slight puff of air hits him.

"Wha-what!" Rin stares in shock. "Ho-how did ya do that!"

"It's her eyes." Adriana continues in the private channel.

"What do you mean?" Ichika responds as he fends of Laura. The girl saw an opportunity and charged the boy with her own close quarter combat weapons.

"Rin's Impact Cannons, both the bullet and trajectory are invisible right?" Adriana cheerfully explains, "Well, you may be able to determine their targets by her line of sight."

Ichika breaks away from Laura with realization on his face, "So, you're saying-"

"Exactly," Adriana cut in, "where ever she's looking, you don't want to be."

'Well, that depends on some other factors as well, but I shouldn't confuse Ichika with the boring detail.' Adriana muses as she watches Ichika's rate of success on dodging Rin's attack more than double.

Due to the surprise of the sudden improvement, Rin is unable to react to Ichika's Ignition Boost strike. The surprise of seeing Rin's signature and most difficult to avoid attack overcome also leave Laura and Houki open for a successful surprise attack.

With the match over, the four pilots land for a break. Adriana desends onto the arena and reports their results in person. As Adriana delivers her report, Houki replenishes the energy withing the I.S.s of her friends.

Upon Adriana finishing her report, the break ends, and she returns to the tower to begin another match.

As Adriana ascends up the stair case, she continues contemplating Rin's cannons. 'Of course, this only works if she either fires her cannon from the front, aims with her eye sight, or fires them both in the same direction. She can easily use one as a distraction, and then fire the other when the target enters her desired location. But as long anyone considers their distance from Rin, Rin's reload speed, and the speed of her attack, it is a simple matter to avoid getting hit.'

Adriana reaches the control room and begins the third match.

The battles continue with breaks to recharge the I.S.s. During the matches, Adriana opens private communications with each of the pilots and shares her insights and battle strategies. After hours of practicing, the five of them finish and go off to dinner.

While eating their meals, Ichika comments, "I'm impressed Adriana, you have really sharp battle senses."

"Th-Thanks." the Latina responds giggling embarrassedly.

"Well, this should be expected, baka. She is a candidate representative."

"Again, you're all too kind." Adrian says starting too blush.

"Ichika!" Houki shouts slapping him, "Eyes front."

"As my bride, you shouldn't gaze upon other women like." Laura glares crossing her arms.

"Baka!"

Adriana only stares on in confusion unaware that her embarrassment is what seduced the young, healthy teen.

The girls could only swear Adriana wasn't even trying and easily slipped past Ichika's defenses. Laura broke the silence by commenting on Ichika's food. With the topic about food brought up, it wasn't long before Ichika was feeding the three. Adriana, however, politely declined claiming she wasn't fond of this dish.

Charlotte and Cecilia watch the commotion unfold before them at their table. The declaration of war iss too much for their young hearts to bare. With great envy, they watch Ichika feed the others. They deeply regret not being in class 2-2.

Dinner concludes and and everyone returns to their rooms.

While in the shower, Adriana can only grin. The information she had gathered plays back through her mind. She eagerly anticipates what the rest of the week will reveal to her.

The rest of the week passes with little change to the given schedule. During that time, Adriana dutifully monitors the matches, giving advice as needed. In the end, each plot has improved their abilities. However, observation was not all Adriana did. She also helped with the fine tuning of the inner machines, making adjustments as needed. In the end, Adriana learned quite a lot from her experience. Friday night had arrived and Adriana eagerly anticipated to watch the matches the next day. After all, from there she would be able to observe the I.S.s of the other students.

With the battle looming that day, there was no more need for the students to segregate themselves. The breakfast table that day was rejoined by the missing members. Desperate to make up for lost time, these members did all they could to stand out to Ichika. Adriana, however, just sighs and eats her breakfast.

Satisfaction sets in on the girls and the with everyone looking forward to the matches that day, the topic of I.S. naturally arises. However, unwilling to risk their chances of success or developmental secrets, no one is willing to talk about the training they performed or their I.S.s. Instead, other I.S. topics are brought up.

"Adriana, I've been wondering this for a while, but you mentioned that your country doesn't possess I.S. capabilities. Doesn't that go against the Alaska Treaty?" Charlotte asks.

"The U.N. has created a loop hole regarding that. Yes, the Alaska Treaty made all information and technology related to stratos open to all countries in the world. In theory, all I.S. cores are also distributed equally across all nations of the world as well. Therefore, my country possesses the information needed to make an IS. However, my country lacks the capability and funding to develop any IS technology. Because of this, to preserve the scarce resource of the I.S. core, my country was not given an I.S. core."

"But the treaty states that I.S. cores would be distributed equally across the world." Cecilia interjects.

"And they are." Adriana continues, "Any country with the capability to develop a stratos will be given a stratos core. Therefore, once my country proves itself able to develop a stratos, it will be given a core. Hence the reason I'm here."

"Then, the stipulation that all countries have an I.S. core-" Houki begin.

"Is false." Adriana finished, "The treaty has been interpreted to mean that all countries have the right to an I.S. core if they can put it to use. Dangerous and rouge countries, however, are denied any stratos information any and I.S. cores altogether."

"Then the number of countries with IS cores-" Ichika begins.

"Are the ones with enough wealth to actually fund research and development. Simply stated, the ones who compete in the Mondo Grece competition are the countries with stratos cores."

"That's not a lot." Rin comments.

"How will any of this solve the problem of funding?" Laura asks.

"You mean me attending the I.S. Academy? Truth be told, it doesn't." Adriana responds, "My mission isn't just to learn about how to create a stratos, I also need to create one for my country."

"You need to make an entire I.S. on your own?" The table gasps.

"Yep, I need to make an entire stratos, one hundred percent complete, and take with me to my country. I doubt this would have been the task if my country, Argentina, possessed the capability to create a stratos. That should be enough proof to demonstrate stratos capabilities and receive a stratos core."

"But you still have to make one, alone." Ran points out.

"Not exactly. I don't have to make one one my own, just be able to make one on my own. I can get help as long as I understand how the process goes. I plan to finish one before I return home next year. They're faces will be priceless." Adriana giggles finishing her explanation, "Hehe, and that concludes Adriana's speech in lecture mode."

Breakfast ends and everyone reports to their class. The class representatives then report to the arena wait areas while the students with tickets take their seats. Students without tickets have the rest of the day off.

Adriana takes her seat in eager anticipation. During the last week, she had gained statistics on stratos of her four classmates, Ichika, Houki, Laura, and Rin. The only mystery still remaining is Houki's top speed. Due to being the fastest and the size of the arena, she had not and could not be able to access her top speed. However, information ranging from Ichika's Setsura to Laura's black cables, and the abilities of Houki's katana to Rin's cannons are completely memorized by Adriana.

'Now, show me exactly what you can do, all of you.' Adriana egarly anticipates the up coming matches. 'But most of all, show me what the president can do.'

Unbeknownst to Adriana, a small grin spreads across her face.

* * *

><p>There you have it chapter three. I wanted to continue and write the fights as well, but it's getting late. I hope you've all enjoyed, and please let me know where I can use some improvement.<p>

-finally, editing to this chapter complete. Now for the last one.

Ja ne


	4. The Battle

The Fight

I.S. Academy Year Two

By Warrior Seadra

* * *

><p><span>The Fight<span>

** "**Ichika," Adriana begins saying aloud as she stares into the arena. "Rin, Laura, Houki, and I worked very hard to make you stronger. Please, don't disappoint us."

** "**What was that Adriana?" Laura ask overhearing her name.

** "**No, just wishing Ichika luck."

** "**My bride knows better than to lose."

** "**That's right, after all we did for him, if he dares lose he will be punished." Rin comments.

** "**But if he wins, he's treating us to dessert." Houki finishes.

** '**Shouldn't we be treating him?' Adriana wonders after hearing that.

** "**By the way, where were you earlier?" Cecilia asks. "You missed the first years battle."

**"**Oh, I was contacted by my country. They-"

A loud roar erupts from the audience cutting off Adriana's sentence as the second set of matches begin. The first match is between Kanzashi and Ichika.

Ichika quickly rushes Kanzashi with an Ignition Boost at the match's start. Attempting to us his Barrier Void Attack to quickly end to the match, Ichika swings his Yukihira. Reflectively, Kanzashi flies up while launching her missiles.

**"**She's quick."

**"**No, Ichika's too slow."

**"**Her reflexes are good."

**"**Well, consider who her training partner is..."

**"**That's true."

**"**But Ichika has gotten stronger too."

**"**This will be a fun match." Adriana closes the conversation.

Ichika currently attempts to close his distance with Kanzashi. While evading incoming projectiles, he occasionally fires shots from his Setsura. Suddenly, Kanzashi surprises Ichika by rushing him with her halberd.

**"**That's clever."

"Yeah, but it won't work."

** "**No?"

** "**While you and Charlotte were training, we also prepared for this situation."

**"**Rin's weapons were very helpful."

"And compared to Houki, Kanzashi might as well be standing still."

True to the prediction, Ichika easily parries the attack striking with his Yukihira thus ending the match. With Ichika advancing to the next round, the two exit the arena. Charlotte and the Canadian pilot, Blair, enter the arena and begin their match.

**"**What do you guys think?"

** "**I lack information on Blair to make any assessments about the outcome."

**"**All I know is that she's Canada's candidate representative."

**"**Same." All the girls sighs admitting their lack of knowledge.

It was then that the match ends with Charlotte emerging victorious.

**"**That was quick."

**"**Maybe it was a poor match up?"

** "**No, she might just be weak."

**"**The instructor can't be pleased."

**"**Hey, they're starting the final round."

The girls look up, and see Charlotte firing a machine gun in her left hand and preparing a cannon in her right. Ichika, in an attempt to save energy, attempts to dodge instead of blocking with Setsura.

**"**My bride is being clever."

**"**By losing shield energy instead of blocking?"

**"**He looses less energy by taking the shots than he would using Setsura to block. He clearly expects for me to nurse him to health afterwards."

**"**Laura, I agree in that Ichika is most likely trying to save energy. But, I don't think he wants to sacrifice his body for a later reward..."

**'**Where does this girl get her confidence?' is a question everyone then wants to know.

**"**Ichika is at a disadvantage here."

**"**His main problem is getting closing the distance."

**"**Being a living arsenal, Charlotte can counter any strategy Ichika can come up with."

**"**Ichika does have a chance."

**"**His double Ignition Boost and Setsura's long ranged attack?"

**"**But, Charlotte knows how to counter them easily."

**"E**ven if Ichika gets in close and grabs her with Setsura's claw. Charlotte can switch to her melee weapons."

**"**Let's just watch and see."

Charlotte now uses a pair of a gatling guns and has Ichika circling the arena. Charlotte does not notice, but with each lap Ichika gets further and further away from the wall. Even if slowly, Ichika is closing the gap and locking Charlotte in one area.

**"**Looks like Ichika discovered something."

**"**His insight on the battle field is amazing."

**"**Think he can keep Charlotte from noticing?"

The girls remain silent and continue watching the match.

**"**As expected from my bride."

While having followed circular 2d path around the arena, Ichika now circles the entire arena in a 3d manner.

**"**He~, Charlotte is getting confused."

"More like dizzy."

**"**She can't keep up anymore."

**"**All that rotating is too much for her."

Capitalizing on Charlotte's drop in performance, Ichika uses his Ignition Boost to slash Charlotte's side ending the match with his Barrier Void Attack.

**"**Ichika got stronger." Houki comments quietly.

**"**We can't let ourselves slack off."

**"**We'll need to do special training of our own."

**"**If you'd allow me, I'd like to support you all from behind."

**"**Always supporting from behind, unable to fight, how painful..."

**"**Eh, the third years just finished the first match!"

**"**!"

Looking up, Tatenashi is seen standing victorious over her opponent, Relena.

The second match ends just as quickly with Forte Sapphire defeating Marina.

**"**Well, seeing as those two weren't personal IS users, it's no surprise that they lost that fast."

**"**..."

**"**The next fight should prove more interesting."

**"**Adriana..."

**"**Is something the matter?"

**"**...No, you'll see."

**"**?"

Tatenashi proceeds to defeat Forte in under five seconds.

**"**That's all... I...I wanted to see more... YOU CALL THAT A MATCH! THAT WAS TOO SHORT!"

Having jumped up in outrage, Adriana only sighs as she flops down onto her seat.

**"**What's done is done."

The other girls stare at Adriana in shock. This is the first time they had seen her express an emotion other than joy or happiness.

Noticing their expressions, Adriana reverts to her cheerful self asking, "Is something wrong?"

**"**N-no it's just that..." lost for words, Cecilia is unable to finish her sentence.

**"**?"

**"**It's just... just that this...this is..." Rin too finds herself unable to continue.

**"**I'm sorry?"

Houki only stares in amazement making Adriana feel unsure of herself.

**"**We have never seen you express emotions other than bliss before. Your sudden outbreak surprises us greatly." Laura says calm and collectively.

**"**Oh..." Adriana suddenly looks down in shame and softly continues, "I was looking forward to Tatenashi-senpai's matches very much. Then..."

The sentence trails off, Adriana unable to finish.

…..**  
><strong>Tatenashi notices the sudden outbreak after the end of her match and watches the situation unfold before her.

** '**Ichika~, I see you've a new friend in your group. I can't wait to meet her.'

**"**Heh~ Everyone, I propose a three way battle royal between the winners of each grade. This fun match will surly please any dissatisfied members of the audience."

With a grin, Tatenashi winks into the audience.

…..

**"**Did she...wink at me?" Adriana asks in confusion.

Houki can only moan, "Uhhh, you got her attention."

Adriana looks around in confusion and only sees miserable faces on everyone else. She quickly decides the best course of action is to drop the topic and watch the arena intently while waiting for the final match to begin.

Ichika and the first year, a cadet representative from Australia seem to have a mutual understanding that they would need to work together to defeat Tatenashi as they both rush her.**  
><strong>Tatenashi meets the duo head on with her Rusty Nail. She blocks Ichika, then while kicking him away, turns and slashes the Australian. With her lance, she turns around again to impale the advancing Ichika and fires her gatling gun. Having again repelled Ichika, Tatenashi placed her attention on firing her Heavy Rain on the Australian easily disposing of her. With a sigh, Tatenashi finishes by thrusting her Rusty Nail to the side impaling Ichika who attemptes to surprise Tatenashi with his Ignition boost.

The match ends with Tatenashi saying, "Thank you everyone, please let us, your student council, know if there's anything we could help you with in the future."

With the battles over, the audience begins to dissipate back into their daily lives. Charlotte, having finished her battles earlier, rejoins her friends in the lobby and waits together with them for Ichika to return.

They didn't wait long when Cecilia cries, "Ichika! You're not hurt are you?"

**"**No, I'm fine thank you. I didn't make you guys wait long, did I?"

**"**Not at all, we were just discussing were you could take us to later today."

**"**All of you!?"

Upon seeing everyone's shinning faces, Ichika cannot refuse their request.

**"**I was really surprised that Tatenashi wanted a battle royal. Actually, I really shouldn't be that surprised."

**"**Hehe... Sorry about that. She must have heard me complaining on how her match was too short." Adriana giggles apologetically.

**"**You missed it Ichika, she actually lost her temper and raised her voice." Cecilia teases.

**"**It's true, she jumped straight out of her seat." Charlotte continues.

Still feeling embarrassment over the scene, Adriana is unable to give a reply.

**"**Wow, that must have been a sight." Ichika says clearly trying to image the scene.

**"**A-Anyway, here. I bought you this." Adriana says holding out a sports drink.

**"**Oh, thank you. Replenishing a body's salts after a work out is very important." Ichika says, taking a sip. He pauses soon afterwards.

"Is the matter?" Rin asks hoping to find a flaw in Adriana's present.

**"**No, it's just that the drink is at room temperature."

**"**I remembered you mentioning how bad it is for your health to drink cold drinks..." Adriana says trailing off on her sentence.

**"**Wow, Adriana, you're pretty dependable." Ichika says placing a hand on girl's shoulder.

**"**Oh, think nothing of it Ichika!" Adriana declares placing her hand on Ichika's opposing shoulder.

**"**Ha ha ha." The two of them start laughing at a newly discovered friendship.

The rest of the girls only stare on in confusion. They are unsure on whether to be jealous of Adriana's thoughtfulness or sad both Ichika and Adriana managed to change a possibly romantic situation into one of pure friendship completely on their own.

**"**I still can't believe it, someone else as thick as Ichika also exists.'

**'**Idiots, they're both idiots.'

**'**I don't believe this person means to take my bride from me.'

**'**Uhhh, these two.'

**'**I worry for her future.'

**'''''**But since its him, he'll definitely charm her too!'''''

**"**I hate to interrupt this scene, but you and Charlotte probably want to get cleaned up before dinner." Houki says no longer able to watch the scene before her.

**"**Ahhh-, your right. So, shall we meet later then?"

**"**Then let's meet at eighteen hundred." Laura states.

After some muttering, they all agreed and go off theie separate ways.

Having finished with all her work, Adriana finds that she still has free time. Not sure of what to do, she settled for wandering until she thinks of something better to do.

** "**Fufufu~ I found you!" A voice says. Suddenly someone coveres Adriana's eyes with their hands. "You know, you had a pretty cute reaction back then."

"Tatenashi-senpai?" Adrian guesses.

"That's right. So, did you like my treat?"

"It was very thoughtful of you."

"I only want the best for my cute little kohai. Well, I must be going now. Tata"

Adriana watches Tatenashi run off and thinks to herself, 'She wasn't nearly as bad as everyone else made her out to be.

Adrian looks at her watch and sees it is 17:47. She quickly makes her way to the dinning hall for dinner with everyone else.

"Hey everyone, sorry I'm late." Adriana apologizes.

"No worries, it was only a few minutes." Ichika reassures her.

Adriana takes a seat next to Houki and engages in the current conversation.

After a while, Ichika stands up and thanks all the girls for helping him prepare for the competition and making the competition enjoyable by providing a strong opponent.

In response, Adriana gives the most beautiful smile anyone from the table has seen.

* * *

><p>The edit is now finished for this chapter. Let me know what you think.<p>

Ja ne


	5. Final?

Final?

I.S. Academy Year Two

By Warrior Seadra

* * *

><p><span>Final?<span>

In the dark, Adriana rests on her bed. Dinner had ended and everyone already returned to their rooms. She had just finished her report and had been given new orders.

_"The observation phase is now complete. We will now proceed to phase two. Begin operation at 1000 hours."_

With one last glance at her ring, Adriana falls asleep.

_In a park, Adriana sits on a swing. Ichika motionlessly occupies the right swing. On the left swing, a dark haired teen calmly rocks back and forth._

Adriana awakes. Groaning, she sits up scratching her head. She looks at the clock and breathes. Currently, the time is 6:45 am. Every Sunday at 8:00 am, Ichika usually leaves his room for breakfast. Taking another breath, Adriana gets up and prepares for her day.

In order to prevent any mishaps, at 7:30 Adriana knocks on Ichika's room door.

"Morning Adriana." Ichika greets the girl, "Come in."

Accepting the offer, Adrian enters the room.

"Ichika," Adriana begins, "I want to give everyone a surprise today. Would you mind helping me?"

"A surprise, like a cake?"

"Yeah, but I want to do other things too. Only, I can't carry everything myself."

"Yeah, I would be glad to help."

"Thank you," Adriana smiles, "then we should leave now, before anyone else comes to see you. Come on, I'll treat you to breakfast."

As the two walk down the hall, Ichika begins debating with Adriana on who should treat who to breakfast.

"I wouldn't be a man if I let you pay."

The time is 8:50 and both Ichika and Adriana are in a super market buying groceries. They resolved the issue of breakfast with each paying for the other's meal. Currently, they are debating on whether they should make a normal cake, or an ice cream cake.

"Do you really think we should do ice cream?" Adriana asks.

"Yeah, everyone likes ice cream, right?" Ichika responds.

"I suppose the typical girl would like sweet things..."

"Adriana, do you not like sweet things? Now that I think about it, I don't recall ever seeing you eat desert."

"I eat desert... occasionally." Adriana says in a soft voice.

Laughing, Ichika says, "Well, most girls I know would like ice cream cake."

"Fine," Adriana replies flatly, "But we're not doing any stereotypical flavors like chocolate or vanilla."

Ichika and Adriana finish buying the supplies for the party and leave the market. Seeing a park, they stop to take a short break.

"We should have the party in my room." Ichika says.

"Really? My room would have been fine."

"Yeah, but I don't have any room mates. This way, no one will be disturbed."

"I suppose so."

A ringing then comes from Adriana's pocket.

"Your phone?" Ichika asks.

"No, just an alarm." Adriana sighs while standing up. As she steps forward, she turns the alarm off and spins to face Ichika.

After a moment, Adriana begins to speak. "Ichika, I really enjoyed my time with everyone. Truly, I believe this is what it must be like to have friends."

Slowly, Adriana's smile begins to fall.

"Adriana, is something wrong?" Ichika begins to get concerned.

"Nothing is wrong, but I need you to do one last thing for me."

"Really, what?" Ichika asks ready to help his friend.

With a dead face, Adriana replies "I need you to die for me."

"I don't understand. Adriana, what do you mean."

Adriana holds up her left hand and a bright light flashes from her ring. When the light fades, an Infinite Stratos occupies Adriana's place.

"Deploy your stratos Ichika." A deep voice commands. "I don't want to kill you without a fight."

Ichika stares in shock. Where he once saw Adriana now stands an I.S. Distinct features he notices this I.S. include a visored pilots helmet adorned with a golden V. Furthermore, six wings protrude from the back. Three on the left and three on the right. Finally, on each arm is located a shield and wrist blaster. Most surprising is the pilot. Adriana has become a male.

"Very well then, good bye, Ichika Orimura." The male says as he chargs forward.

Quick to react, Ichika deploys his Byakushiki. Evading to the right, Ichika avoids being impaled by the three left wings. Ichika continues back to avoid being slashed by the three right wings. Continuing the assault, the male rushes the retreating Ichika iaido slashing him with a katana drawn from his lower left wing. Ichika switches his momentum forward and meet the sword with his own.

"I don't understand. What is going on?" Ichika demands to know.

The male says nothing. Instead, he stabs forward with his wings.

Ichika brakes the engagement between the swords swords by falling back. Then, to create distance, Ichika flies into the air while firing three shots with Setsura.

The male easily weaves threw the shots, closes the gap and again strikes with his sword. As Ichika counters the attack with his sword, the male release the grip with his left hand and fires a blast with his wrist blaster.

From point blank, Ichika takes the hit and is forced back. The male quickly gets behind Ichika and kicks him to the ground.

Floating in the air, the male speaks. "You are the only known male capable of piloting a stratos My duty is to bring in you, your Byakushiki, and its core for study."

As Ichika rises to his feet, the male charges.

"I infiltrated your school, passed as a girl, pretended to be your friend, spied on you, and lured you into a trap!" the male shouts as he swings his sword.

Ichika counters with Setsura by creating an energy shield. To his surprise, the sword cuts threw the shield and would have cut him as well had he not side stepped for a dodge.

"Your sword..." Ichika begins.

"That's right. Just like you, my sword can cut threw energy and deliver a barrier void attack." The male laughs hollowly.

As the two swords again clash, the male continues to shout, "But unlike you, I don't have an energy problem."

"Let's stop this." Ichika suddenly says.

"What?" The male asks stabbing forward with his wings.

Ichika again evades back. "I can tell, you're holding back. Both with your and your I.S.s' ability. You don't have to do this. Come with me to the I.S. Academy. We can work something out there."

The male floats in his space unsure of himself. "Are yo-"

The male is cut off as a beam goes threw him.

"Well done Adrian." A voice says.

Ichika and Adrian turn and see an unmanned I.S. drone. Unlike the any previous drones they have seen, this one is shaped like a male.

"Professor, why?" Adrian asks as he coughs blood.

"We calculated that you might..." another two beams pierce Adrian from the side as two more drones emerge onto the scene. "betray us after experiencing this freedom. However, you've fulfilled your role nicely by supplying us with the needed data."

The original unmanned drone rams Adrian smashing him into the ground. The dust clears and Adrian is seen laying in a crater, unmoving.

"Now Mr. Orimura, we'll be having you come with us." The voice emits form drones as their assault begins.

Dodging between their attacks, Ichika uses his ignition boost. Quickly closing the gap between himself and a drone, he slashes the drone in half. The other two drones clearly anticipated this tactic and use the opening to strike Ichika with their beam attacks.

Once hit, Ichika drowns under the assault of the two drones. Ichika is trapped and only has a few more seconds of shield energy.

A drone explodes and a blast sends the remaining drone off to the side. Looking up, Ichika sees that Adrian has forced himself up, stabbed a drone, and blasted the other.

Ichika and Adrian both charge the remaining drone.

"No matter." The drone says and self destructs.

The dust clears and Ichika sees Adrian laying on the ground.

In panic, Ichika rushes to Adrian's side asking, "Are you insane? You could die!"

"Hehe," Adrian giggled softly, "sorry, but you would have dies if I didn't."

"But your objective was to kill me!"

Coughing blood, Adrian responds, "Yeah, but I couldn't do it. All of you... are the first friends I've ever had. I've no regrets."

"Just hold on, I received word not too long ago. Help is on its way. You promised a party for everyone."

"Haha, I lied. I can't... cook."

"Adrian, Adrian!" Ichika screams as Adrian becomes silent.

* * *

><p>AN: Tada, finished. Maybe, depends if anyone wants me to continue this story or not.

By the way, Leafeonlover (Just leafeonlover, not the one with the number) and I are co-writing story for Fruits Basket. I hope you guys will read it when it comes out. I'll be placing a notification on my profile once it's out. I hope you all enjoy it.


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